The Sift: AI-generated song goes viral

November 17, 2025

Artificial intelligence Celebrities/influencers Journalism Misinformation Press freedoms/First Amendment

An educator's guide
to news literacy

Nov. 17, 2025

Note: There is no Sift issue next Monday due to the holiday week. We will return on Dec. 1 with a special issue.

In this issue

AI-generated song goes viral | ‘Appstinence’ movement | RumorGuard slides

Daily Do Now slides

Don’t miss this classroom-ready resource.

Top picks

Here are the latest news literacy topics and tips on how to integrate them into your classroom.

An illustration of a robot wearing a cowboy hat and boots and holding a guitar. Musical notes are floating in the background.

AI-generated music personas are streaming online.

1. AI-generated song tops music chart

Can AI-generated music rival human-made songs? The recent commercial success of an AI-generated song suggests it’s possible.

No. 1 hit: AI-generated music persona Breaking Rust’s song Walk My Walk climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales Chart. It has had over 3.5 million streams on Spotify.
Criticism from artists: Earlier this year, country artist Martina McBride asked Congress for AI regulations. She’s one of several artists who have been outspoken about the impacts of AI on music and personal safety.
Sounds real: A recent poll of 9,000 people in eight countries found that 97% could not tell the difference between AI-generated music and human-made music. About 80% of respondents wanted AI music to be clearly labeled.

💬 Discuss:

Should platforms label AI-generated music? Why or why not?
What impact does AI-generated music have on human musicians and listeners?
Is AI-generated music harmful? Why or why not?

💡 Idea: Use the “Reflect” slide in Week 10 of the Daily Do Now resource to analyze a clip of Walk My Walk.

⭐ NLP Resource:

Infographic: “6 things to know about AI”
“Introduction to Algorithms” (Checkology)

🔗 Related:

2. Preserving the Black press

Archivists and scholars across the country are working to preserve troves of old editions of Black-owned newspapers. Howard University is one institution leading the effort to digitize the history of the Black press.

The North Star: Last year, Howard University workers found two boxes of North Star issues, an antislavery newspaper founded in 1847 by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The issues were from its first year of publication.
Preserving artifacts: The Black Press Archive digitization project at Howard is working to preserve Douglass’ historic paper and Black newspapers that captured the life of Black Americans during the 19th and 20th centuries, covering issues like slavery and the Jim Crow era.
Understanding history: Researchers say archiving Black newspapers is crucial to understanding American history: “America does not have a full accounting of itself without the historic Black press,” said Nicole Carr, a journalist and professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

💬 Discuss:

What kinds of stories in Black newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries might be missing from mainstream newspapers?
Why might stories in Black newspapers be overlooked by other news outlets?
What significance does the Black press have today?

⭐ NLP Resource:

“Harm & Distrust” (Checkology)

🔗 Related:

Video: “Publishers of Black newspapers pivot to survive” (NBC4 Washington)

3. Student newspapers under pressure

Across the U.S., student journalists are raising press freedom concerns and facing challenges reporting at their schools.

Tension with administrators: At the University of Texas at Dallas, a student journalist was accused of “journalism malpractice” after publishing stories critical of the university. At Indiana University, student journalists were directed not to include news in the print version of their newspaper. At the University of Central Oklahoma, the print newspaper was halted after school officials expressed dissatisfaction with editorial content.
Independent student outlets: In response to administrative pushback, some students are creating their own newspapers independent of their respective schools.

💬 Discuss:

Should schools have editorial control of student newspapers? Why or why not?
Why might school administrators not want certain stories published in school newspapers?
What First Amendment protections do student journalists have?

⭐ Idea: Use the “Press freedom” slide in Week 10 of the Daily Do Now resource to further explore this topic.

💡 NLP Resources:

“Practicing Quality Journalism: The Daily Northwestern Protest” (Checkology)
“The First Amendment” (Checkology)

🔗 Related:

“Student journalist terminated following interview with UVA interim President Paul Mahoney” (C-VILLE Weekly)

These classroom-ready slide decks provide a comprehensive walk-through on how to debunk false rumors.

No, major trucking company didn’t end New York service after Mamdani victory

A social media post reads, “The nation’s largest trucking company says it will no longer service New York City after Mamdani takes office: ‘We’ve instructed our dispatchers to reject loads to any of the Five Burroughs,’ said Company Spokesman Joe Barron, ‘We don’t see a way to continue doing business in the Big Apple.’ The news comes as Mamdani released his plan to increase revenue across the city by quadrupling the cost of tolls, licensing, permits, and inspections of all commercial vehicles. ‘He’s going to put a lot of the independent truckers out of business’” and features an image of a Swift truck. The News Literacy Project has added a label that says “FALSE.”

❌ NO: Swift Transportation did not announce that it was pulling its business from New York City in response to the policies of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

✅ YES: The quotes presented in this rumor are fictitious.

✅ YES: This rumor originated with a satire account.

❌ NO: The claim that Mamdani plans to “quadruple tolls” is unfounded and does not appear in his official platform.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

Major political events are frequently followed by falsehoods that aim to distort or exaggerate their impact. After Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City this month, a series of inaccurate claims circulated online about various businesses leaving the city in protest, such as this falsehood about Walmart closing stores. Check out these Google Slides for tips on spotting these politically biased fabrications.

Video of students chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ is AI-generated

A social media post reads, “Young, white children are being indoctrinated into Islam. They raise their hands in the air and chant Allah Akbar. This has to stop” and features a video depicting a teacher instructing students to pray. The News Literacy Project has added a label that says “AI VIDEO.”

❌ NO: This is not a genuine video of a teacher instructing British students to chant “Allahu Akbar” (misspelled in the post above as “Allah Akbar”).

✅ YES: This is an AI-generated video.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

AI-generated videos continue to seem more realistic and can be difficult to spot at first glance, especially when they are coupled with fearmongering claims that play into preconceived biases. Check out these Google Slides for tips to spot these convincing fabrications.

A News Literacy Project ad shows three people in front of a computer screen and says: “’Tis the season for news literacy! Help us reach 2.1 million students in the 2025-26 school year. Start your fundraiser today!”

➕ Does the word “misinformation” make you shudder? For some, this word sounds like a “verbal slap.” Experts say focusing “less on correcting and more on connecting” by asking good questions is a more inviting way to keep discussions productive.

➕ It’s the end of Teen Vogue as we know it. Former staffers say the youth magazine made a name for itself in recent years for its coverage of national news stories, including politics, education, labor and LGBTQ+ issues.

➡️ Test your media savvy in this News Literacy Project quiz from Teen Vogue’s “Information Wasteland” series.

➕ Influencer culture is being embraced by colleges to help build schools’ social cred. But when a public feud occurred between two student influencers at the University of Miami, a dean stepped in to stop the drama.

➕ A Washington Post analysis of ChatGPT’s “writing ” style found that the AI text generator uses emojis in 70% of its messages, and its favorites are the ✅checkmark and the 🧠brain.

➕ To avoid falling for an AI-powered celebrity scam — like a fake Taylor Swift asking you to buy crypto — try searching for an AI watermark or following these tips.

➕ X owner Elon Musk has an alternative to Wikipedia: an AI-powered website called Grokipedia. However, PolitiFact found that Grokipedia articles are mostly lifted from Wikipedia, more error-prone and less transparent.

➕ Do you ever read the headline and skip the story? One college student says it is happening more as attention spans are shrinking — and it affects media literacy skills too. (Learn more by reading the full story here. 😉)

➕ A recent graduate of Harvard University started an “Appstinence” movement for her peers to quit social media.